Technological updates are packaged behind a heavily updated bodyshell now featuring the slimmer chrome grille first shown on the 2011 Evos concept car and now fitted to the Fiesta and latest Fusion – which will come to Europe as the next Mondeo. Inside, the button-covered dashboard of the outgoing car has made way for a de-cluttered replacement with an eight-inch touch screen.

Improved sound insulation including thicker carpet and windows is said to make the new Focus more refined for occupants, while adjustments to suspension and steering settings and a stiffer front end are claimed to offer a more involving drive.

Engine options include the first full range of Euro 6 petrol and diesel units set to be used on the rest of the Ford range. These include the first use of the 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol in 148bhp or 178bhp forms, and a 1.5-litre TDCi diesel with 94 or 118bhp and range-lowest CO2 emissions of 99g/km. Other engines are carried forward from the outgoing car, but the 1.0-litre EcoBoost now emits 99g/km – a record for a non-hybrid petrol car in this class.

The Focus Electric and ST will be updated shortly after launch, and a low-carbon version of the 1.5 TDCi is likely to follow. A spokesperson for Ford of Europe said there are no plans to introduce the platform-sharing C-MAX plug-in hybrid’s drivetrain in the Focus. The PowerShift automatic gearbox is confirmed for the 1.0-litre EcoBoost and 1.5-litre TDCi from 2015.

Also new to the Focus is a perpendicular parking assist, a MyKey system, which allows drivers to set maximum speed limits and disable options for younger drivers, an active emergency braking function which can slow the car at motorway speeds or stop it in town if a collision is imminent.

Ford has sold over 12 million examples of the Ford Focus since the original launched in 1998, including 6.9 million in Europe. Data from Polk showed, at 1.1-million cars, it was the world's best-selling nameplate during 2013.